Halo Headlines: Angels draft Hatcher’s nephew, Weaver on pace to be activated ASAP, Scioscia give Santana dreaded vote of confidence

The June 7th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Angels draft Mickey Hatcher’s nephew, Weaver on pace to return from DL as soon as possible, Scioscia gives Santana the dreaded “vote of confidence” and much more…

The Story: The Angels finished up the draft by drafting 23 of 25 players out of college, including the nephew of Mickey Hatcher.

The Monkey Says: SLEEPER AGENT!!!!!! Boy, are those contract negotiations going to be awkward.

The Story: Jered Weaver is playing long toss and on pace to be activated as soon as his 15 days on the DL are up.

The Monkey Says: That’s terrific news. If true, that should mean Weaver will start either the last game of the Freeway Series or the first game of the following homestand.

The Story: Mike Scioscia gives Ervin Santana a vote of confidence and says that his rotation spot is not in danger.

The Monkey Says: Ah, yes, the dreaded “vote of confidence.” Given Ervin’s track record, I don’t blame him for giving him a long leash, especially with the lack of rotation depth the Angels have. That being said, if Santana is still pitching poorly come this time next month, Scioscia might have no choice other than to start “contemplating” removing him from the rotation. Scioscia also intimated that there is no real thought being given to Garrett Richards staying in the majors as a reliever as they want him to stay stretched out.

The Story: Kendrys Morales will start at least two games at first base , with Albert Pujols play third base, during the six-game stretch in NL parks.

The Monkey Says: Go figure, just when he gets hot, he has to sit for half of the games in a week. I’m also mildly scared that he is going to over-exert himself playing the field and suffer some kind of injury setback. Other than that, I’m sure everything will work out fine.

The Story: Erick Aybar rates as one of the worst players in all of baseball so far this season.

The Monkey Says: I have sat down at least a dozen times to try and write about why Aybar has been so bad this season, but for the life of me, I just can’t figure out how he got so bad so fast.

The Story: Mark Trumbo has been the Angels MVP thus far.

The Monkey Says: My vote goes to Mike Trout, but I certainly can’t argue against Trumbo getting that completely imaginary honor. And believe me, I tried because the only thing that bothers me more than Jim Bowden is Jim Bowden being right.